Tuesday, March 20, 2012

New Blogging Series: How to Blog Party

I've held off for as long as I could, but I've finally decided to announce my newest series for bloggers- How to Blog Party. If you're looking for some helpful blogging tips and tricks, this is the spot!

I get emails several times a week from bloggers who have questions about all aspects of blog parties:

What is a blog party anyways?

How do I host a link party?

How exactly do I link up?

What's a link back?

Rather than continue to copy and paste my response into multiple emails per week, I decided to write a series that I hope bloggers will find informative.

Like my other series (Commenting 101 and Blogging Myths), this one will start pretty basic and will move forward from there. I know there are some people out there who are brand new to blogging and don't know what a link party/blog party is, or how to join them.

I plan on covering topics geared for bloggers who want to link up as well as for bloggers who want to host their own parties.

There are so many of blog parties out there, and I've seen single posts linked to as many as 50 or 60. What should and could be a useful tool for bloggers who link up as well as bloggers who host has turned into a bit of a three ring circus.

I know there are some readers and bloggers out there who won't agree with everything I share, but I'm okay with that. It's the main reason I held off for so long on writing this series, but I'm hoping that bloggers will read it and maybe link parties can become great sources of traffic for those of us who link up and for those of us who host.

I'll aim to post something related to the series once a week, so I hope you'll tune in.

I have a pretty good list of topics to cover, but I am interested to see what you'd like to learn about.

I can't wait to hear all you have to say about blog parties! I think I have a love/hate relationship with them:) I love linking up and finding great new ideas, but I hate the spam comments that come along with them!

I have mixed emotions about blog parties. I love them in many ways (I'd better love them, since I'm starting a new one this week!), but I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of simply linking every post to scores of parties. It still seems to me that there should be some interaction--comments left for the hostess, for instance, and visiting a couple of other party participants. I don't always do a good job, but try to be a good partier.

Truth is, I'm scared about starting a new party. I know that there are already so many. But maybe there's room for one more. I'm not sure!

Looking forward to it! 50 parties seems like a lot to link up to. I know there is no set # that is "socially" acceptable in the blog world but under 10 or 5? Just curious your thoughts on that. Have a great rest of the day!

I have now sat here and got pulled in by your previous series-great. I am just under one year of blogging and am trying to figure out how to build a network in my niche, support other new-ish blogs, manage the time between client work, and add the right content that's true to me-- this will be another topic I needed some thoughts on...thanks for great tips, and this upcoming series!

Really looking forward to the series, Amanda! I'm a huge fan of your parties, and since I hope to be the host of my own party one day, I'm super curious about all of the 'insider info' I'm sure you will be able to share with us! Keep up the good work, girl!! You do such an amazing job as a blogger!! :) xo~ Virginia @livelovediy

What a great series Amanda! One of the things I've always wondered, is that as a link/blog party host, how you manage going through/visiting every single link. I've seen some parties reach links in the hundreds, do they really go through all of them & how do you manage that?

Oh, I'm very excited to read your thoughts on this! I have seen some of those posts with a huge list of links and thought . . . "Really? Should I be doing that? Because it seems like a hassle and I kind of don't want to." I'm hoping you tell me the answer is No! :)

Also, I really like and appreciate a well-hosted link party, but I don't really have a desire to host one myself. Am I the only DIY blogger to feel this way?

One question (I can't find the answer - sorry if it's in one of your posts and I just missed it): what do I do when I copy the code for the Weekend Bloggy Reading button? I blog with WordPress, and I have no clue what to do with the code!

For now, I'll l ink back to you in a text link, but I sure would like to use your cute button!

I'm a fairly new blogger and today I came across Blog Parties. I was completely dumbfounded and had no idea what they were. Thank you so much for sharing this series. It really means a lot! I will definitely browsing your site for more helpful tips.

This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.

This is Me

I'm a stay-at-home mom of three kids, a fluffy Pomeranian, and a rambunctious German Shepherd puppy. Happily married to T. We live in Virginia, but I secretly dream of what it would be like to have a place in NYC to escape to for random girls' shopping weekends. Target is my home away from home. I stay sane by doing creative projects around my home and taking lots of pictures. Stick around for realistic inspiration...on a budget!

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